- Hello and welcome to a type of video
that I have not done for a very, very long time.
I've got several videos that I filmed
earlier on this year that I'm really excited
to show you, I think they're gonna be really valuable,
but to be honest, I just didn't feel like
editing any of them today.
I felt like sitting down and filming a Q and A instead.
So that's what I'm doing.
I think it's because a lot of my videos recently
have been planned out and filmed a few weeks in advance
and I don't know, just kind of felt like doing something
a bit more spontaneous, a bit more chatty
so that you can get bit of a life update
and also get any of your questions answered.
So I reached out on Twitter and I asked
if anyone had anything they wanted to ask me about,
design, life, things in general
and lot of really good questions came in.
So let's get right into it.
First question comes to me from Danica.
I hope I'm saying your name correctly.
That's how I always say it in my head
when I read you committing or Tweeting me,
so yeah, let me know if I got that wrong.
Danica says, do you think you'll ever move back
to New Zealand or stay in London forever
or move somewhere else?
I don't know.
This is a question that myself and my boyfriend, Mark,
have been talking about like amongst ourselves lately
because we just don't know.
There's no place in the world that either of us
like feels a super strong connection to
and a super strong pull that we have to live there forever,
if that makes sense.
For now London is home and it will be for at least
a few more years I would say.
I really love it here still.
I feel like I'm definitely not done with London yet,
but I don't know if New Zealand would be
the next place we'd move to
or if there'd be somewhere else in between there.
Like for example, I'd really love to live in Spain
for a time.
I love Valencia a lot.
It's one of my favorite cities.
I also like the idea of living in New York,
but I guess I like the idea a bit more
than I would like an actual action.
So London for now, I guess, is the answer to that.
And as for the future, I don't know.
I could definitely see myself moving back to New Zealand
at some point in the probably very distant future
because it is really a nice country
and it's like a nice place to live,
but for now, I am enjoying the London life
of being busy, having a lot of events to go to,
being able to travel to Europe and to America really easily
and you know fairly cheaply from here
compared to what it would cost from New Zealand.
Rich says graphics tablet.
Yay or nay or kinda sometimes?
To be honest, I've never really tried one.
I think I've had like a play on a friend every now and then.
Like Wacom tablet, Wacom, however you say it.
I don't even have one, so I don't even know.
And it really grabbed me and I think it's because
the way I hold a pen, if I demonstrate with my mascara here.
I like really grip a pen and I end up getting
like a lump there and like my fingers get cramped
really easily just 'cause of the like
gammy way I hold it.
So I think that's potentially why a graphics tablet
has never really suited me and felt like
it's something that I wanted to try.
I have been enjoying though using my iPad and Apple pencil,
using the Astropad that I mentioned
in my iPad for designers review video that I did.
I'll link it on a card.
I can never remember which one of the card goes in.
But I've been enjoying using that for entertainer vectors
and illustrator and doing some things in Photoshop
every now and then, so I guess that's kind of
a graphics tablet.
Jay says are you an introvert or an extrovert.
I am an introvert.
And some people are surprised about this.
In fact, pretty much everyone I tell
who knows me first through YouTube
or like meeting at an event or something,
when I say I'm an introvert, they don't believe me
for some reason and I'm like why would I lie about that?
I think it's because introverts have this,
I think, incorrect reputation of being like
really shy and quiet and like just standing in the corner
and not saying anything, and some are,
but whether you're an introvert or an extrovert
is all about how you get your energy and for me
I get energy by being alone, in my own space
and like gaining energy that way
and when I'm around people, it drains my energy.
Whereas, if you're an extrovert, being around people
is what gives you energy.
So like you need to be around people in order
to feel energized and fulfilled.
But I like to say that I'm an introvert
who enjoys spending my energy
on having really good conversations with people.
I've been thinking about doing a separate video
all about being an introvert as a designer
and just some things that I've learned.
As I explore more, I get to understand my personality type
and where I like to work better,
so if you've be interested in that,
let me know down below in the comments.
My friend Kevin asked how is ConvertKit going?
What have you been working on lately?
Has there been something challenging to work through
or exciting to figure out?
So ConvertKit is going great.
That is a company that I work at
in case you are new around here and didn't Know.
We are a fully remote company so I work from home
and yeah we make email marketing software
and I work on the marketing team.
We've had lots of exciting things go on
at ConvertKit recently.
I think we're just a company that moves really fast
and are always working on something pretty exciting.
Something that I guess I'm excited about at the moment
is a project that actually launches tomorrow,
like the day after I'm uploading this.
So if you're watching this any day
that is not the day I uploaded, check the description
'cause I will put a link in there where you can go
and check it out for yourself.
That's been a really exciting, fun project
to be a part of.
I think I can say that's a documentary series
all about creators and bloggers and how they earn a living
and like legitimizing that career path, I suppose,
because I think it is still something that people see
with a lot of prejudice unnecessarily so,
'cause that's been really cool to be a part of.
As far as something challenging, I'm trying to think.
I feel like I'm always being challenged in a good way.
So I can't think of a specific example, but perhaps
it's the fact that I've been trying to do harder and harder
code things, like designing harder and harder things
for myself to build, I guess.
And just last week I needed to code a new landing page
for a project and it was really easy for me to code
and I know it's something that I would found
really challenging even just six months ago.
So the more challenging stuff I try and build,
the easier all the rest of the stuff seems.
So that was nice to see happen in action.
I managed to get two different landing pages
coded last week, which is a lot for me
because sometimes it would, you know, in the past
take me like two weeks just to build one.
So you know improvements.
I ended up getting quite few questions about
like my job and remote work.
So I'm just going to go into this one from Andrea.
Andrea says what would you recommend for someone
that wants a full-time remote job like you have?
People keep telling me it's completely impossible
and unrealistic.
That sucks that people are saying that.
I don't think it's completely impossible or unrealistic,
but you do have to work hard for it.
It is not something that's gonna come to you easily.
I think remote work is often pitched as the thing
like it's easy, you can work from home in your pajamas
and it's true, you can, but in order to land the job,
you need to prove to someone, whoever is out there
looking for a remote employee,
that you are a really self-motivated person
and that you are going to work hard.
That you're not gonna use the fact that you're at home
as an excuse to slack off, you know,
which remote work isn't for everyone.
Some people would do that.
Some people need the office environment in order to focus.
So I think getting a remote job is all about
showing the potential employer that you
are going to function well as a remote employee.
So whether that's doing self-driven projects,
whether that's doing some freelance work
where you're dealing with clients who are overseas
so that you have something to like bring up
in an interview situation about how you work remotely
and communication skills, that sort of thing.
I think that's the way to go about getting a remote job
and you also have to be good at what you do.
I mean, that's the case for any job really.
Yeah, being good at what you do
and having a way to prove that you are self-driven,
motivated without just saying it.
So for me I actuallY talked to Nathan about this,
I think it was actually when he interviewed me
and I was like, why were you interested in having me
join this remote company when I've never
worked remote before?
And he said that he could see from my side projects
and the conference talk that I'd just given
that he had been at, that I was really self-motivated
and had good drive because of all the projects
that I work on, so yes, side projects
could be a way to go about getting a remote job.
Subash says how to manage money as a freelancer?
Also working full-time in a company?
Make sure that you are declaring the right thing
on your taxes.
You don't want the tax department to find you
and sting you with a huge bill
and it's just not worth taking that risk honestly,
just pay your taxes.
It's super easy to just Google and research
what the threshold is or whatever the rules are
where you live.
I'm not gonna try and give you all that
because every country is different.
Be smart about it, do your research
and get to know what the rules are
and then make sure you follow them.
But my absolute best tip for managing money
as a freelancer is to document things.
I started off using a spreadsheet
where every single thing I would spend money on
related to my business, just put it in a line item.
Every single thing I had earned,
I just put it in as a line item of the date,
what I earned and who it came from.
You gotta keep track somehow so that you know
what's coming in and out.
It's super easy.
It doesn't have to be really intimidating.
You don't have to use fancy software
to get it done, just yeah, stay on top of it.
Let's dive into a more fun one.
Jill says what podcasts, books, shows, et cetera
are you loving lately?
In terms of shows, my favorite television show,
as of late, is okay I'm gonna say it's Jane The Virgin.
I just love it so much.
It's like got strong female characters.
It's got a great storyline.
It's a little bit dramatic at times,
but like it knows it 'cause it's almost a play
on a telenovela and yeah, it's just really cool.
If you haven't seen it yet and you like comedies,
you should check it out.
And another one is The Good Place.
It's just great writing.
I think it's hilarious.
There's a lot of cool like twists and things that happen
and that's all I'll say in case you haven't seen it yet.
But that is definitely one you should watch.
And both of those are on Netflix.
In terms of podcasts, I would say the ones
that I jump on like as soon as a new episode is out,
one is My Favorite Murder with Karen Kilgariff
and Georgia Hardstark.
It's just two women.
They're very funny.
I would call them both comedians.
And they tell the story of a murder each week,
which sounds like it shouldn't be funny,
and like it's not funny to laugh at death or whatever.
But it's really fascinating the stories they tell
and they're getting a lot of stories out of victims
and things like that.
It's just really interesting and they also promote
a lot about keeping yourself safe and that sort of thing.
And yeah, I just really enjoying listening to that,
so that's one that I always jump on.
And I'm going to the live show when they come to London in,
I think it's May I'll say, anyway later on this year.
I'm really excited about it.
Another one is Sad Boys with Jarvis.
You might have seen them on my YouTube channel.
We did a video about design versus engineering together
along with (mumbles) and his friend Jordan
and they talk about feelings and stuff
and it's just a really good one.
They have really good conversations.
They're both hilarious as well, so that helps.
Again, it's like sometimes a very serious topic
with more of a lighthearted touch to it.
So maybe that's like the genre of (mumbles) I like,
pretty obscure.
The Fiery well asks, how do you stay motivated
on long timeline projects?
This is a good question and it's particularly applicable
because that project that I just talked about
with the market that's launching tomorrow,
that's been one that we've been working on
for over a year.
And it definitely does feel like the majority
of it has happened in the past few months
because as we get nearer the deadline,
it is easier to focus on something
and make sure you work on it.
But I would say that a tip for handling long timelines
is to make shorter deadlines for yourself within there.
You need to, like looking at a long timeline project
can feel huge and daunting and overwhelming,
so the first thing to do is just detail
all of the parts of it that you need
and everything that's gonna need to go into
getting those things done.
Just start taking them off one by one
and set deadlines for each thing,
even if they're arbitrary at that stage
and like the only main deadline you have
is the end timeline, but setting them
for yourself throughout and that'll keep you accountable,
keep you motivated and keep you going, I think.
Let's end on a couple more work ones
since that's what most people seem to ask,
which I'm excited about.
That didn't use to be something that I talked about much
on my YouTube channel.
I used to mostly talk about the life things.
So I love now that I have a job where I can
vlog while I work and talk about my work with you.
I think it's really fun.
Anyway, good questions.
Oh, how do I pronounce your name?
Nejat, I'm gonna guess
and probably butchered that completely.
Says how did you feel about learning to code
when you got into ConvertKit?
That was basically what held me back from applying
even though I have a junior software dev background.
I guess I'd rather spend more time focusing
on the product design.
That's an interesting question.
And what Nejat is talking about is that
we recently had a product designer role open at ConvertKit,
but the requirement was that they needed to be able to code,
like do front end div basically.
I was excited about the opportunity to learn to code
because it was something that I've always wanted to do,
but just never really had a need to
and it's really hard to make the time
and force yourself to do things
when there's not really a need to, you know,
there's always something else you could be doing.
That's been really cool and I'm really proud
that now I can design something and they bring it to life
mostly on my own, for the most part,
unless I design something super complicated
and then I need a lot of help.
I was worried, and I still am sometimes, to be honest,
about this balance between designing code,
especially because I'm not like a rockstar coder
and so it does take me a longer time to code
than it might some other people,
so I end up spending, you know, that split of time
between designing endeavors, kind of not
where I wanted to be.
But I think it's a really valuable thing
for me to have learned.
I think it's made me a better designer
and I think I'm gonna do another whole video
on exactly this topic, so that I can talk about it
in more depth.
But yeah, I think you have to know
what you're interested in, right,
and if you know that you're not interested in code,
don't take a job that's gonna require you to code.
You made the right choice by no applying
if that's not something that you wanted to do.
'Cause it doesn't matter if you already
knew how to code, if that's not how you wanted to spend
any of your work time, then yeah, don't do that.
One last question from Paul.
Paul says any tips on managing a remote job?
Loneliness, distraction, organization, et cetera?
I think that with a remote job you have to
get a routine for yourself.
I did a video about my like working from home routine,
again, linked on a card if you wanna see.
But yeah, with a nine to five job,
you turn into the office at nine
and you probably break for lunch at around like 12:30
with your workmates or something like
and then finish the day at five,
you've gotta set some sot of routine for yourself
to follow, otherwise either work can just
bleed too much into life or life can bleed
too much into work.
It depends on what you've got on.
In terms of distraction, I find some days
I do have days that I'm getting super distracted
and that's when I leave my house.
I go work in a cafe or from the YouTube space
or something else like that.
Just get yourself out of the situation
that is causing you to not be able to work.
And if you're distracted by the washing or whatever,
sometimes it's good to take five minutes
and just do it and get it out of the way.
But yeah, for the most part,
honestly I just leave the house sometimes
and put myself in a new situation,
like puts reset on my brain almost
and then I'm able to focus much better.
In terms of loneliness, I don't really get that lonely,
I think because I'm talking to my workmates
all afternoon when it's America morning time on Slack
or we have meeting most days of the week I would say,
maybe three out of five workdays I have a meeting
with another teammate anyway to talk to,
but I also know a lot of people who freelance
or have their own companies, work from home or whatever
that are here in London that I can go and hang out with
whenever I feel like I need to be working
along side someone today.
So whenever I feel like I get to that stage
where I'm like I just need to be around some people,
which like I said before, I'm an introvert
so that doesn't happen that often.
But when it does, I know I can call someone up
and arrange to go and work at a cafe together
and get lunch or something and yeah,
I can get my fill of people in that way.
Alright, I'm going to end this now
before I talk for too long and this video
gets too long for you to watch.
But if you like this and you'd like to see me
do more of them, then please let me know
down below in the comments or just by giving this video
a thumbs up, that'd be really great.
Thank you for watching this video.
I hope you have a really good day
or a really good week ahead as well.
Let's go out there and make stuff happen.
Alright, I will see you next week
for one of the videos that I have saved up
and just waiting for me to edit and upload for you.
It's gonna be another video in my deep chat series
that I've kind of officially kicked off recently
with my video with my workmate Matt.
This is a video with some more of my workmates
and we're gonna be talking about creativity
and what are our thoughts on that
and I think you're gonna really enjoy
listening to the conversation.
So stay tuned and I'll see you then.
Bye.